Chapter 55

Nāga

As Adom stood in the shadow of the great forest, the revelation of the tracking device weighed heavily on his mind. The night air, thick with the whispers of the unseen, seemed to pulse with tension. Who could have placed the device on him? Was it one of the adventurers he had encountered? Or could it have been Valiant, the mouse beastkin, whose intentions remained a mystery despite their brief interaction? The possibility of a random spectator from the crowd embedding him with a tracker was equally disturbing. The motives behind such an act spun a web of scenarios in Adom's mind, each darker and more dangerous than the last.

Destroying the pin seemed the most straightforward solution, yet Adom hesitated. The abrupt disappearance of the tracking signal could draw the pursuer directly to him, a risk he wasn't willing to take without knowing the strength or intentions of his follower. In a world where magic and cunning could outmatch brute force, Adom knew he needed a more subtle approach.

His thoughts turned to the nocturnal creatures he had sensed using [Aetheric Echo]. Among them were small rodents and birds of prey, creatures adept at navigating the night's veil. A plan began to form in Adom's mind, one that required precision and a touch of his sorcerous skill.

With careful movements, Adom extended his senses once more, honing in on a small rodent nearby. The creature, a forest vole, was unaware of the silent predator that was Adom's intention. He infused his voice with essentia, altering the frequency of his vocal cords and whispered a chant, an imitation of a vole's mating chant, this was an art he had learned to attract and play with the animals when he still lived in the hospital. The vole, now under the subtle influence of Adom's magic, approached him without fear.

Taking the pin, Adom affixed it carefully to the vole's fur, ensuring it was secure but not harmful. The creature, oblivious to its new burden, scurried off into the underbrush, a decoy carrying away the beacon that marked Adom as prey.

With the tracking device cleverly dispatched with the unsuspecting vole, Adom recognized the gravity of his situation. Time was indeed of the essence, and lingering in anticipation of his pursuer was a luxury he could ill afford. The knowledge that someone could have placed a tracker on him, possibly someone who could also detect his Essentia signature, was alarming. The prospect of facing a potentially stronger adversary was a risk too great to entertain.

To maximize his speed and distance from the tracker's last known location, Adom decided to levitate his entire body. This method, while somewhat uncomfortable due to the unusual sensation of being suspended in mid-air, proved to be remarkably efficient. Drawing upon the same principles he had used previously for a controlled descent , he now focused on propelling himself forward at an increased pace. The spell required a delicate balance between mental focus and the manipulation of air currents around him to achieve the desired lift and forward momentum.

As the forest canopy rushed past below, Adom enhanced his vision with Essentia to navigate the dense underbrush and the maze of towering trees in the dead of night. This enhancement involved channeling Essentia to his eyes, augmenting his natural sight beyond human capabilities. The process was similar to how he had previously amplified his hearing, where he concentrated Essentia to form an invisible membrane around his ears for enhanced auditory perception . In this case, he envisioned the Essentia coalescing around his eyes, enhancing the light reception and depth perception, allowing him to see with clarity even in the low-light conditions of the forest.

With his vision augmented, Adom maneuvered through the forest with unprecedented speed, the shadows and moonlit clearings blurring past. His mind was a whirlwind of caution, every sense heightened, every nerve attuned to the faintest whisper of movement or anomaly in his surroundings. He knew that the key to his success now lay not just in the swiftness of his escape but in the cunning with which he navigated the challenges ahead.

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Adom, now estimating to be at least three kilometers deep within the vast expanse of the Great Forest of Salamander, ceased his levitation, the sensation of solid ground beneath his feet a welcome relief. The 'flight' had left him fatigued and slightly nauseous from the unnatural state of self-levitation. He had navigated carefully, avoiding the perils he had previously identified through his use of [Aetheric Echo], ensuring a path clear of the formidable Direwolf, Twin-Tailed Scorchers, and the Slumbering Earth Draker.

Extracting the map from his belongings, Adom confirmed his position in the western part of the forest, still a considerable distance from the center where the Ka'ui orcs resided. The Great Forest of Salamander, a colossal expanse stretching over approximately 7 million square kilometers, stood as the continent's largest forest and the second-largest among the eight continents. Its reputation was as vast as its area, known for being exceptionally dangerous, deeply enigmatic, and imbued with a profound magical essence that had shaped its history.

Adom's journey necessitated reaching the Ka'ui orc village within two days to commence his dungeon expedition, hopefully with their assistance. Amidst the dense foliage of the Great Forest of Salamander, he recalled tales of secret paths woven into the forest's heart, paths he knew not how to find. But one certainty guided him: a unique method to beckon the orcs' attention from afar, even before setting foot in their village. This required ascending 'The Laughing Peaks', the continent's highest peak and the ancient abode of Laufey, king of the giants, some 3000 years past.

The mountain earned its grim moniker from a dark chapter in giant history, a civil war that painted its slopes in blood. It was here the 'Kingslayer', a giant who defied his kind and the Lich King, met a gruesome end. Betrayed and overpowered, his heart was ruthlessly extracted and consumed by his kin, even as life clung to him. Legend tells of his eerie laughter in the face of death, echoing across the peaks, a sound that, some say, still haunts the mountain's summit. This brutal act was not just a murder but a stark symbol of division and defiance among the giants.

Once on top of the towering Laughing Peaks, Adom planned to invoke an ancient tradition known to few. At the summit, he would utter the orcish word "Ghratak" – a call for unity and aid, deeply rooted in the shared history of the Ka'ui orcs and the Salamander lineage. This word, a symbol of a long-forgotten alliance, was expected to summon the orcs to his side, awaiting him at the mountain's base to escort him to their village.

This tradition, gleaned from a chance encounter with an old soldier in his past life, was a gamble. The man, an ex-adventurer turned soldier, had lived his entire life within the bounds of Salamander, accumulating tales and secrets of the land. Among these was the ritual of "Ghratak," a beacon for the Ka'ui orcs. Despite Adom's skepticism, the soldier's stories held kernels of truth about the forest, lending credence to this ritual. Yet, doubts lingered in Adom's mind. If the ritual was a mere fable, his journey would stretch far longer than desired. But he would have to take this route anyway, so he thought trying could not hurt.

As Adom was meticulously folding his map, intending to secure it back in his bag, a sudden, almost imperceptible shift in the ambient essentia enveloped him. It was a silent alarm, a primal warning that coursed through his veins, igniting his instincts. "What the—" Adom's exclamation was cut short, surprise and adrenaline fueling his swift ascent. Without conscious thought, his body responded with a burst of magic, a wind spell that propelled him upwards in a swift, jolting motion. Suspended momentarily in the air, his heightened senses caught the anomaly—a Nāga, a majestic yet deadly serpent, indigenous to the vast and enigmatic Great Forest of Salamander.

The Nāga, with its massive form extending up to 10 meters, was a creature of both beauty and terror. Its scales, a kaleidoscope of iridescent hues, shimmered with an otherworldly glow, masking its presence through an innate invisibility afforded by its essentia-imbued scales. Such creatures, though devoid of the intelligence to weave complex spells, harnessed essentia in a raw, instinctual manner, blending offensive and defensive capabilities into their very being.

This particular Nāga had set its sights on Adom, its predatory gaze fixed, its massive body coiled in anticipation. The serpent's scales, a marvel of natural enchantment, rendered it nearly invisible, cloaked in a veil of essentia that melded seamlessly with the forest's dense aura. The realization of the imminent danger, the closeness of becoming snake dinner, struck Adom with a chilling clarity.